Pacey Hassell-Mead: Redcliffe man guilty of drug trafficking

A young Moreton Bay drug trafficker in business for 18 months has turned his life around, a court has heard.

A young Moreton Bay drug trafficker who dealt in five different drugs over an 18-month period has turned his life around since hitting rock bottom, a court has heard, commencing full-time work and seeking help for his mental health troubles.

Kippa-Ring man Pacey Jamaine Hassell-Mead, 21, pleaded guilty in Brisbane Supreme Court on Thursday to seven indictable offences and two summary charges.

They included three counts of possessing dangerous drugs, one each of trafficking in dangerous drugs, possessing a commercial quantity of a Schedule 1 dangerous drug, possessing cash obtained from trafficking, and possessing a thing used in the commission of a crime.

The court heard Hassell-Mead trafficked in five different dangerous drugs between January 1, 2019 and his arrest on June 2 last year.

He primarily trafficked in cannabis, but also dealt cocaine, MDMA, and two other Schedule 2 drugs.

Hassell-Mead made 203 transactions in the 18-month period, with the Crown able to prove 61 of those actually occurred.

Kippa-Ring drug trafficker Pacey Jamaine Hassell-Mead, 21. Picture: Facebook

When a search warrant was executed on his residence on June 2, Hassell-Mead was discovered in possession of four types of drugs, one of them in a commercial quantity, as well as cash, drug utensils and other paraphernalia.

His operation was described as “relatively unsophisticated” by the Crown.

His offending was aggravated by his being charged early in his trafficking period with minor drug offences, for which he received drug diversion in the Magistrates Court.

Yet despite this warning, he continued apace.

It was submitted on Hassell-Mead’s behalf he had completely changed his life after hitting rock bottom following his arrest in June.

He had “cut off negative friendships”, commenced full-time work as a fabrication labourer at his uncle’s business, where he hoped to take up an apprenticeship, undertaken rehabilitation for his cannabis dependency with organisation Lives Lived Well, and not committed further offences.

The court heard Hassell-Mead had an unhappy childhood marred by bullying and an incident aged 14 where a knife was held to his throat as part of a seven-on-one armed robbery.

He commenced using cannabis around this point because he was “angry and irritable”, and suffered anxiety as a result of what had happened to him.

The court heard he had since commenced taking medication to help treat his mental health conditions.

Justice Graeme Crow commented Hassell-Mead had a “bright future” ahead of him if he continued on his rehabilitative path.

Hassell-Mead was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment with immediate release on parole.